In the abstract, it was difficult to see how the plan was supposed to work. Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee of one political party, apparently thought it’d be a good idea to appear at the national nominating convention of a different political party, seeking its support for his 2024 candidacy.

It seemed like the sort of strategy that wouldn’t work. After having seen the reception the Republican received at the Libertarian Party’s event, the results were even worse than expected. NBC News reported:

Insults were hurled at former President Donald Trump when he took to the stage Saturday night to address the Libertarian National Convention. The crowd’s hostility to the former president was especially pronounced when Trump directly solicited their votes. Each time Trump asked attendees at the Washington Hilton for their votes or the party’s nomination, he was met with loud boos.

In case this isn’t obvious, the former president isn’t generally accustomed to speaking to audiences that jeer him relentlessly. On the contrary, Trump tends to speak at rallies where attendees have an almost religious-like reverence for him.

With this in mind, when the presumptive GOP nominee heard the unmistakable booing from delegates to the Libertarian gathering, he responded by insulting the party.

“If you want to lose, don’t [nominate me],” Trump said. “Keep getting your 3% every four years.”

This, naturally, generated even more vociferous booing.

It was, to be sure, a bold move. As a New York Times report noted, “Mr. Trump’s speech was without modern precedent: the presumptive nominee of a major political party giving a prime-time address at another party’s convention.”

It also appeared to fail spectacularly. Evidently, the delegates to the Libertarian National Convention thought it’d be preferable to nominate a Libertarian — and Trump is clearly not that.

Indeed, while I’m not in a position to speak on Libertarians’ behalf, it’s fair to say that the whole point of the party is to dramatically curtail governmental power and authority in every area of public life. This bears no real resemblance to Trump’s vision — as Saturday’s event made clear.

Ultimately, the Republican didn’t even bother to submit the paperwork to compete for the Libertarian Party’s nomination, and delegates ended up nominating party activist Chase Oliver for president.

Recommended

Maddowblog

Republicans intend to borrow a Democratic idea and stage a midterm convention

Steve Benen

Latest

Joe Scarborough: Trump just made James Comey ‘a political and a legal martyr’

Allison Detzel

Soon after, Trump turned to his social media platform to claim, “The reason I didn’t file paperwork for the Libertarian Nomination, which I would have absolutely gotten if I wanted it (as everyone could tell by the enthusiasm of the Crowd last night!), was the fact that, as the Republican Nominee, I am not allowed to have the Nomination of another Party.”

First, if Trump isn’t allowed to have another party’s nomination, perhaps he can explain why he spoke at the Libertarian event and asked for its nomination.

Second, the idea that the Libertarian nomination was his for the taking is ridiculous to anyone who actually saw and heard the reception Trump received at the convention.

It’s reminiscent of the guy in high school who asks out the girl he likes, gets rejected, and tells his friends he “absolutely” could’ve gone out with her, but he decided he was just too busy.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,” George Orwell wrote in his dystopian classic, 1984. “It was their final, most essential command.”

The relevance of the line lingers for a reason.